Photo = REUTERS Google is investing directly in a company developing small module nuclear power plants (SMR). This is due to the judgment that the rapidly increasing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) power cannot be met without nuclear power plants. As competition between countries surrounding the SMR market is intensifying, big tech companies are also accelerating their efforts to dominate power sources.
On the 14th (local time), Google announced that it had signed an energy purchase agreement with Kairos Power, an American SMR development company. The key to this contract is that Google will invest in the construction of Kairos Power’s first SMR, which is being built for 2030, and purchase 500 megawatts (MW) of power when the reactor begins operation. The specific content or structure of the contract was not disclosed.
This is the first time that Google has entered into a nuclear power plant contract. As the AI market is rapidly expanding, the demand for electricity needed to run data centers is also rapidly increasing. Meanwhile, U.S. power companies have begun building natural gas power plants to meet the rapidly increasing demand for electricity. However, big tech companies such as Google, which promote ‘decarbonization’, have been concerned that using natural gas-generated electricity conflicts with the company’s goal of being eco-friendly. “Nuclear power can be a clean power source that can meet electricity demand 24 hours a day,” said Michael Terrell, senior director of Google’s energy and climate division.
On this day, Google defined nuclear power plants as a ‘clean energy source’. As the facility operation rate of new and renewable energy such as solar power and wind power generation is unstable, the plan is to supplement this with nuclear power plants. Robert Eccles, a professor at Harvard Business School, said in a recent article published in Forbes, “Nuclear power provides decarbonized baseload power, requires a small land area compared to other renewable energy, and has a power plant lifespan that is more than twice as long.” The actual facility operation rate of nuclear power is 92%, which is higher than that of other renewable energies such as wind power (37%) and solar power (27%), as well as thermal power generation such as natural gas (55%) and coal (54%).
Competition among companies to dominate SMR is expected to intensify. Last month, Microsoft (MS) signed a 20-year power purchase contract with Constellation Energy, the No. 1 nuclear power plant company in the United States. Constellation Energy has decided to resume commercial operation of Unit 1 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant, where the nuclear accident occurred in 1979, in 2028 to supply power to Microsoft. Last March, Amazon signed a contract to purchase power generated from a nuclear power plant operated by Tallen Energy. The data center connected to the nuclear power plant was also acquired. There are speculations that OpenAI will receive power from SMR, which is being developed by Oklo, an SMR startup invested by CEO Sam Altman, starting in 2027.
Silicon Valley = Correspondent Song Young-chan [email protected]
